The seven Grand Master teams enter an empty LEGO® Masters HQ where Hamish tells them that today will be a two part challenge
In the first part, each team will have three hours to create a model atop a rocket which will then be launched into the sky. As the rocket reaches its apex, the model will detach and parachute back to Earth. The models cannot exceed 350 grams, and the stories are just as important, on the way up and on the way down. Brickman says that NPU (Nice Part Usage) will be critical to meeting the creative brief. Brickman will score each model out of ten, and Hamish will award an additional ‘Hamish Blake bonus point’ for flair! The winner of the first challenge will earn an significant advantage in the second challenge.
Andrew & Damian have the Grand Brick and are immune from elimination, but they still want to win the advantage. They build a Space Shark, a shark armed with lasers chasing an astronaut into space on the way up, and back to Earth on the way down. David & Gus haven’t been Top Two yet this series and are keen to prove themselves. They call their model The Eagle Has Landed, an eagle poised to soar into the sky. As a point of difference, they decide to build the eagle in a way that it will detach from the parachute on descent and swoop back down to Earth.
Scott & Owen make Chicken Man, a man dressed as a chicken strapped to the top the rocket. Ideally, his limbs will flop on both the way up and the way down. Sarah & Henry keep it simple and build a Spaceship, a classic space shuttle. Alex & Caleb create Stuntmen in Space, a spaceship that has two stuntmen strapped to the outside. Alex very cleverly braids LEGO® string into ropes holding the stuntmen in place.
Joss & Henry desperately want the ‘Hamish Blake bonus point’ and think they best way to get that is to make sure their model tells a clear story both on the way up and on the way down. They build Thumbs Up, an oversized hand which says “TOP TWO” on one side. Unfortunately, Joss & Henry have not thought about the full brief; to include NPU.
Gabby & Ryan decide to build Aeronautic Acrobats, acrobats dressed in chicken suits who perform an aerial colourful stunt on the way down. They misjudge the allotted time and after finishing very early they decide to do a giant Chicken to the mix. Owen overhears their dilemma and says it’s very similar to their idea, so Gabby & Ryan change it to be a giant Eggman, now called Eggman and the Acrobats.
Andrew & Damian struggle to keep their build below the weight limit of 350 grams and need to reduce their build. Gus & David’s build, on the other hand is light which means they can keep adding more complex details to it. Andrew & Damian get there in the end, with one gram to spare. With less than 10 seconds to go, Ryan realises Eggman has two right feet and needs to pull it apart. With 10 seconds to go, will Eggman have feet or not!
After announcing time’s up, Hamish clicks everyone to a launch site to test their builds, where he is now dressed as an astronaut. As the Rockets launch, first up is Andrew & Damian Shark. Brickman is impressed that their NPU is blue lasers that are made from Vespas. When it takes off, it remains pretty much intact. Scotty & Owen’s NPU use minifig capes as feathers which Brickman loves. In the air, Chicken Man loses its head. David & Gus’s NPU, use Sensei Wu’s beards from LEGO® Ninjago as the eagle’s tail feathers and whilst in the air. In the air, the eagle loses a wing but detaches (almost) as planned! Gabby & Ryan’s NPU is skis as wings, but Brickman says there is not much else to report for NPU. Once the build is in the air it falls apart and Eggman is scrambled!
Alex & Caleb’s NPU impresses Brickman as they use cooked turkeys as helmets for their stuntmen and the ropes that tie them down. When it takes off, the build stays completely intact. Sarah & Henry’s NPU are mud guards and tennis rackets as engine parts, which impresses Brickman, but when in the air, their build falls apart! Joss & Henry are concerned they have not included any NPU but hope their technical aspect of the thumbs up shape will override their lack of NPU.
Hamish clicks everyone back to HQ to announce the winner, but accidentally delivers them to the Brickpit instead. He awards the ‘Hamish Blake bonus point’ to Joss & Henry, but it’s not enough for the win. Brickman names David & Gus and Andrew & Damian as the top two teams. Because Andrew & Damian’s model remained mostly intact, they win the advantage going into the second challenge.
The teams exit the Brickpit and discover the seven tables are connected by large tubes. Hamish produces a ping pong ball which he will drop into the first tube and each team’s build must move the ping pong ball from the low tube on their table to the high tube and then will then travel around the room. Brickman tells the teams that this is the hardest challenge in LEGO® Masters history and if the ball does not get from Point A to Point B on any build, that team will be up for elimination.
As the advantage from winning the first challenge today, Damian & Andrew will receive at anytime throughout the build, 30 minutes one-on-one time to quiz Brickman on his technical LEGO® knowledge and ask him any questions they have.
Hamish gives them ten hours (and one second) – to complete their builds.
Hamish brings the ping pong ball to Andrew & Damian, who have called their build Wrecking Ball on the Loose. The ball enters a construction site, travels up a conveyor belt and through a city. It then falls into the subway and is carried to the next build by mini figs riding an escalator.
Gabby & Ryan create a Music Class. In their build, the ball travels up a conveyor belt hidden in the fretboard of an electric guitar and then across the keys of a piano in a wave-like motion. The ball then moves up a second conveyor belt to a ramp which takes it to the final tube.
Next up is Joss & Henry, who are planning a Mars Run, a space-themed pinball game. The ball enters the game via a conveyor belt into the pinball game and then bounces off of the flippers before eventually falling through the middle and onto a second conveyor belt, taking it to the final build. It’s a super risky build, can they pull it off?
Sarah & Henry are building Putt Putt, a mini golf course. A golfer will hit the ball around the track – they have one conveyor belt which lifts the ping pong ball up so it can slide down a ramp and then travel up a second conveyor belt onto the next build. Henry’s strrength is the technical side and Sarah’s strength is with characters.
Dave & Gus who decide to make a Carnival Clown, a game where minifigs line up to launch the ball at a clown face. This is a bold and risky idea, as Gus has to engineer a mechanism which collects and launches the ping pong ball consistently from one side of their build to the other.
Alex & Caleb, are building a Runaway Meatball that sees the ball travel through a kitchen production line, past chopping chefs, a mixer and a pot to travel up a conveyor belt to an expectant diner seated in a restaurant before moving on to the next build. Alex & Caleb struggle from the beginning, as they’re not confident with mechanisms. They decide to keep it simple to ensure the ball travels from A to B, and then focus on the story.
Scott & Owen create a Dutch Windmill Landscape, and are the only team not using a conveyor belt. The ping pong ball enters Scott & Owen’s build and travels through a Dutch canal. It is then picked up by a windmill and dropped into the clouds which form a ramp leading to the next build. Scott & Owen test their mechanism hundreds of times, but worry that it may still fail when it matters most.
At the five hour mark, Andrew & Damian opt to have their advantage time with Brickman help them create an oscillating crane to advance their storytelling!
Once Gus has perfected the mechanism, he and David finish the story. They add a net which funnels the ball to a conveyor belt that carries it to the next build. Gabby & Ryan’s wave mechanism was difficult and time-consuming to perfect, leaving Gabby & Ryan little time for the second conveyor belt and ramp. Ryan becomes frustrated but Gabby suggests a solution, which works! Henry & Sarah have a breakthrough with their mechanism and now they need to focus on the golf course.
Scott & Owen are super happy with their build and as the only team not to use a conveyer belt as a mechanism, it sets them apart. Brickman loves their build and thinks it tells a great story. Brickman says Gus & David’s build is risky! Satrah & Henry are so pleased the build is over, it was an intense 10 hour build for them and Brickman says he thinks they spent too much time on the mechanism and not enough time on the putt putt. Even though, Damian & Andrew are safe from elimination, they built like they needed to win. Brickman was impressed with Caleb & Alex’s technical and storytelling build, but is concerned the ball travels too quickly through the beginning and end of their build.
Brickman also loves Joss & Henry’s Pinball Build and would have liked to see them make it a little bit bigger. Joss & Henry are worried that the ball may fall straight through the flippers, limiting its time on their build. The wave mechanism of Gabby & Ryan’s was difficult and time-consuming to perfect, but Brickman praises their effort and passion.
Hamish drops the ping pong ball into the first tube. It travels without incident through each of the builds. At Gabby & Ryan’s build, the ball nerve-wrackingly moves both backwards and forwards across the piano keys before exiting, crossing the gap and making it through the final tube to Hamish’s outstretched hands. It is an amazing achievement for everyone!
Brickman names David & Gus and Gabby & Ryan as the top two teams. Since David & Gus took such a massive risk with their launch mechanism, they win the Grand Brick! This is their first win of the Grand Masters Season!
Brickman comes to the most difficult part of today’s epsiode, tearfully naming Henry & Sarah and Caleb & Alex as the bottom two teams. Because all of the builds successfully moved the ping pong ball from Point A to Point B, his decision comes down to storytelling. Unfortunately, this means that Henry & Sarah are eliminated and are the second tream to leave the competition.
